KUWAIT CITY, Aug 11: The Ministry of Social Affairs and Labor should reveal the identities of bogus companies that were referred to the prosecution in order to expose their crimes and violations which harmed the image of Kuwait and its citizens, says MP Kamel Al- Awadhi.

Al-Awadhi also stressed the need to enact laws which prevent owners of companies from manipulating procedures to recruit unnecessary workers. He said the existing laws have been proven to be ineffective in stopping this negative phenomenon. He pointed out the youths and owners of small enterprises usually suffer the brunt of visa trading as they are forced to hire workers locally even if the latter are not qualified. He warned this poses a grave threat to small-scale enterprises considering the State spent nearly KD2 billion to support them. He added the failure of these enterprises is considered wastage of public funds. He urged the ministry to lay down stricter regulations for the recruitment of workers abroad to curb the rising number of marginalized workers.

He disclosed that in the previous legislative round, he presented a bill to impose harsher punishments on those proven to be involved in visa trading such as five years imprisonment maximum , fine of KD10,000 and suspension of the license to operate for not more than three years.

He believes the bill will be approved in the next legislative round, taking into consideration the strong coordination between the executive and legislative authorities. He then praised Minister of Social Affairs and Labor Hind Al-Subaih for her achievements since her appointment, indicating he fully trusts in the minister’s ability to eliminate corruption.

In the meantime, Parliament Speaker Marzouq Al-Ghanem has affirmed the importance of legislature’s decision to amend certain provisions of law number 14/1973 on the establishment of the Constitutional Court as it gives ordinary persons the right to present their appeal to the court. Al-Ghanem asserted the publication of the amended law in the Official Gazette is enough to refute claims that the Parliament will return the bill to the government.

He thanked the political leadership for approving such a significant bill as it reflects positive coordination between the authorities. He also expressed his gratitude to the head and members of the Supreme Judicial Council, as well as the judicial authority for their contribution to ensure passage of the bill.

On the other hand, MP Saleh Ashour confirmed the Parliament will prioritize the citizenship issue in the next legislative round. He stressed the need to review the Citizenship Law which was enacted in 1959. He said the law must be applied properly to protect the interests of those who deserve citizenship like the children of Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaitis, foreign women married to Kuwaitis, and those who rendered remarkable service to the nation.